Thank you for summarizing my favorite childhood series without destroying it. Insightful summary with great behind the scenes comments that an 11 year old would not have known (or cared) about
"....and former Robotech pilot turned gender fluid cocktail lounge singer Lance Lancer Yellow Dancer Belmont" pretty much sums up how insane the Robotech: New Generation summer of '85 was.
15:27 "...Lancer holds a concert where he performs the Minmay song , 'We Will Win', effectively taking the song from somewhat passable to an 8 out of 10 banger." I died at this part 😂
Yea... reba west was not a trained singer. Not difficult to outclass her performances of minmays music. Between her off key delivery and limited selection of songs, even as a small child I knew that they had horribly mishandled the minmay character. Everyone in the room would cringe when she started singing. Used to call it "Robot-ech" as in, ROBOTS plus "ECH" during minmays songs.
@@TheCausalParadox I attended a VA panel at AX one year where Reba West was one of the panelists. I think she was the one who threw the biggest shade at herself! She said she was told that she'd have to sing and she went "I'm not a singer but okay" I want to say she'd been told they'd dub someone else but they ran out of time/money and just kept her in, but don't quote me on that. She was hilarious and I thought it was big of her to not be bitter when she was rather infamous as Minmay.
The one and only time I watched robotech was when I was twelve and although I enjoyed it greatly I realize now that I didn’t fully understand the story as well as I thought I did. This retrospective is giving me an even greater appreciation for it. Enough to make me wanna see not only robotech again but also the Japanese series it’s based off.
They FINALLY English dubbed the Macross saga, directly translated from Japanese. Haven't watched the whole thing yet, but the first two episodes reveal just how much the dialogue was "kiddified" for the 1985 English language version. Seeing it as the script was meant to be, is the only way to see Macross conclude. Otherwise, its a much longer story. It was still always very entertaining to see the re-written version. I watched the whole thing twice. It's just nice to have it both ways now. It's been digitally re-mastered too. I might see the 80s version again, after watching the new one.
I grew up with Robotech and would rush home every day after school to watch it and DBZ. I read the books, I rented the Sentinels VHS tape, rented New Generation from Hastings (RIP), and scoured the net for more info. I do love Macross, too, but Robotech got me into anime, so it is very near and dear to my heart. Thank you for making these! I can't wait for Part 3!
The Melissa Newman who did Dana's voice is actually a Melissa S Newman, not Paul's daughter, though she does also have an imdb profile. Apparantly it was her last role and Carl Macek said she dissappeared from the industry after.
When I was watching the show back in the late 80s as a kid , macross and new gen was my fav , but when I got older in my teens the masters become my fav , when you read some of the comics and novels it makes much more sense and is really good
This is a literary remix at its best. The people who put this together out of 3 different cartoons were geniuses. And its STILL the most iconic series (except maybe Gundum) ever.
It's clear in spite of the ire bringing up Robotech brings, the creators clearly wanted to respect a lot of what these different series had to offer. If i'm honest I'd love to see a new Robotech get the Voltron: Legendary Defender treatment where the original and adaptiation can be more streamlined together.
There is the little issue of Macross still being an ongoing franchise over in Japan. The most recent installment came out in fact this year. Voltron has the luck of Beast King GoLion and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV both being relatively obscure in Japan.
Maybe it's just me, but now that I've discovered Gerry Anderson's 'Thunderbirds' (which is quite popular in Japan), the character of Scott reminds me strongly of Scott Tracy. Huh. Interesting, how two of my favorite things may just be related... I was in the 6th grade when I discovered Robotech. A friend was recounting an episode she'd watched after school and she said "And the guy died" (referencing Roy Fokker's death). I was shocked. As an avid cartoon fan since I was a wee nipper I knew that wasn't allowed (it was the era of the "parachute syndrome," where all the guys shot down in GI Joe always bailed out). She waved her hand and said "Oh no, this is from JAPAN. They do things differently there." That was it, I had to know more. I tuned in and never looked back.The tragic arc of Roy's death is still my favorite episode and I was thrilled to meet Dan Woren, Roy's voice actor, at Anime Expo. I still have the photo of Roy that he signed! The cool thing is that in the back of Robotech: Art 1 there's a crash course about anime and how it differs from the cartoons in the US. I've referenced that time and again while trying to convince people that yes, you can tell a violent/sexy/tragic etc story using cartoons that isn't for children! The US has finally caught up to that idea but it was a LONG time coming.
" it seems odd they could do THIS in 10 years but not THAT in 15" Not at all! For The SDF-1 rebuild, you had an entire planet's infrastructure, people, and intellect. For the post-Dolza rebuild, you had the ship's crew and civilians from Macross Island, plus whoever managed to survive. Completely different. Billions vs maybe 100k people, higher starting tech but no way to harvest new materials.
@Shinobi Raccoon Take the fight to the enemy, or atleast in the SDF-3s mission, to engage them in negotiations as they knew there is no way they survive another assault on the Earth. Little did they know that the Masters (and their planet) were in equally dire straits.
not to mention a worlds worth of experts, scientists, manufacture and soldiers determined not to get killed by orbital bombardment. By contras the southern cross survivors were making the best with what they had starting from a devastated planet with minimal remaining infrastructure. That they had any standing forces let alone an air force, artillery/tank regiments and an array of regular forces is fairly impressive all things considered
@@IRMentat i'd say mostly it's the manufacturing and resources that pose the biggest limitation. you've got a ship with.. i'm gonna guess.. no mining and refining equipment, and very little construction stuff. you'll have to scrap the ship for mats until you can rebuild infrastructure.. and you're doing all this with only a few thousand people, mostly completely untrained civilians. rebuilding as much as they did in 15 years is actually the unbelievable part, not how much they didn't rebuild.
Wait, Robotech was big in Chile? I always thought Latin America got this stuff from the original Japanese as separate series (if at all.) Also, that's some spot on Lisa Hayes cosplay.
@@thegardner80 Yep, no kidding and not only in Chile, Robotech is still quite popular in Latin America, I would even dare to affirm that the biggest fandom is located in that zone (tough I don´t have solid figures so correct me if I am wrong), no wonder why the fan film "Valkirie project" is from Argentina and even HG promised to employ them for the failed "Robotech Academy" series. Moreover, Michael Bradley, the voice of Lancer from the third season, came to my country to perform a concent and if you still don´t believe me: watch?v=v5_o5rc6nuc or just put Michael Bradley Chile.
@@thegardner80 Also Robotech is not the only anime popular in Latin America: during the 80 and at least the begginning of the 90 decade lot of broadcasted anime series were localized versions from United States, for instance Gatchaman was known here as G-Force but I also remember to have watched the localizaed version by Sabanna too. Voltron also was broadcasted but it wasn´t popular as Robotech.
@@thegardner80 Latin American anime fans exaggerate (and I'm being considerate by saying that) when they claim all the anime we got was 100% uncensored, translated directly from Japanese and broadcast simultaneously with Japan. That is simply not true. Take the usual go-to example, Saint Seiya. It came out here in 1992 (1986 in Japan), and the first 26 episodes were just the scripts from the European Spanish translation (itself translated from French) with appropriate pronouns ("ustedes" instead of "vosotros", for example). From episode 27 onwards, it's believed the scripts were translated from English transliterated from Japanese, which resulted in several translation errors and name confusions.
ok...i dont know if this is a spoiler or not, but the three mounds in robotech master are suppose to be the wreckage of the SDF1, the SDF2 and Khyrons ship
You know John, you should do a video on Gundam's tenuous early history in America, specifically the UC stuff, because oh boy that seemed like an interesting ride to be on. Also there's a lot of fascinating parts to it like the en masse distribution of MSIAs, a flood of games and gunpla available in English at common retailer stores but also a lot rumors and hearsay such as 911 being the reason Zeta Gundam never got to air. All I really know for sure is that Gundam flourished more in Canada in the end. Either-way, great vid. Can't wait for part 3 because that sounds like the beginning of the drama.
I agree that Southern Cross was the weakest series in Robotech, but on re-watching it some years ago I found it was not as bad as I had remembered from my childhood. Also, the hover tanks are freaking awesome!
Apparently Sony have something in the works. A live action adaptation has been in development hell for years BUT recent reports of progress with regards to an agreement with the various rights holders means it might actually get off the ground this time.
Thankyou so much for your two part series... This series holds as my favourite ever since I was a kid and will forever hold a special place in my heart... your video gave me a great blast of nostalgia and further enriched my affection for the franchise 👍
my dad introduced me to this show. he was one of the kids that grew up with it. i remember being so mad finding out the 3rd part was the end of it, i was looking forward to seeing scott meet up with rick hunter 😅
My step-dad used to have a few of those old Matchbox Robotech figures way way back when I first met him, surprisingly enough they managed to survive two moves but the third move they busted up pretty badly. On that happy note, great work on the video
Lancer coming out on stage to the complete shock of the audience mixed with Cam Clarke's 'gotcha!' tone was amazing. I know people usually think of Cam from Turtles (and Akira) but the dude has such a great voice that it always shocked me going back to old anime and he pops up.
I didn't notice it as a child, but I love how you could basically track the New Generation bands journey from South America up to North America, through the Rocky Mountains and Denver, to New York City, and finally to the Reflex Point in the Great Lakes region. It's no wonder why Robotech has such a large Spanish speaking fan base.
In Masters, the three mounds that contained the flowers of life were the remains of the SDF-1, SDF-2, and Khyron's ship if I remember correctly, not where the SDF-1 originally crashed when it landed on Macross Island. EDIT: As far as Marlene goes, her death was still pretty fresh in Scott's mind so of course it was on his mind constantly. I think by the time the series ended, it had been months after her death but sometimes it takes years to get over the death of someone close if you ever do get over it completely.
"In Masters, the three mounds that contained the flowers of life were the remains of the SDF-1, SDF-2, and Khyron's ship" Nope. The 3 mounds are only the SDF-1's reflex furnaces since they're absolutely tiny structures (like 80m in diameter and 40m tall) in comparison to the SDF-1 itself (let alone the larger SDF-2 and Zentraedi Gun Destroyer. The series even tells us this in episode #60 Catastrophe: THE NARRATOR: And so the alien strategy is set: a flanking operation to avoid the Earth fleet and to swoop down on a defenseless area near Monument City. An area they have determined contains the remains of the original battlefortress, and hidden within its Reflex Furnaces the Protoculture Matrix they so desperately seek.
@@BrooklynRedLeg I'd forgotten about that! UGH that hurt so much, thinking about the destruction of the SDF-1 and all the beloved characters killed in Khyron's suicide charge. And the damn Grand Cannon in Alaska, rrrrggh I was so mad at Lisa's father for that. The whole series is full of moments of "NO WAIT DON'T" and it's too late.
I always wondered why that Veritech toy had legs that were obviously intended to transform (but locked so they couldn't), but everything else clearly not there for it. Seems over-cautious on Matchbox's part, though, since Hasbro probably only licensed the exact toy they released and not the design itself. At the very least, I know that Select's Converters (which were probably officially licensed from the Japanese toy manufacturer without any direct contact with the people who made any version of the show) included small figures of a Valkyrie/Veritech and the SDF-1 itself.
Cam Clarke as Max Sterling and as Lancer is one of my all-time favorite voice actors. Flipping through TV channels once circa 1997 I saw some sort of Hanna-Barbera-ish cartoon (artwork looked like Scooby Doo but it was not Scooby) and I heard that voice. I instantly sat up and was like, "That's Max Sterling! That's freaking Max Sterling!"
I looked it up. It may be BARNYARD; he plays Freddie the ferret!!! If you’re not familiar, you may enjoy IMDB.com!!! It’s FACT FILLED AND YOU CAN LOOK UP MANY THINGS!!!(if you have “CLUES”)
1:45 as much as I dislike pointing out any instances of the robotech writing making sense, this actually does. The earth governments were capable of restoring the macross in 10 years because they had the resources of the entire planet backing them. Post war, well, the planet is all gone. Rebuilding would be a ridiculously slow process. Think like the shanty towns in the fallout franchise. Come to think of it... I just rationalized the canon of why the southern cross defense force had such crappy mecha.... Hunter took all the good stuff with him on the SDF-3 and the people left back home get the subpar gear. Harmony gold, put me to work!
Great series so far although I was a little disappointed with the New Generation section didn't have so many changes but really enjoyed you breaking down Southern Cross and giving it some love. I had a bunch of the Masters Comico books and I remain convinced that's the best way to enjoy the story as it really lets the material breathe as opposed to the incredibly awkwardly paced dialogue that we get in the TV version. On paper, at least, It was a pretty satisfying and morally ambiguous military drama. Part 3 I guess you're going to cover Sentinels and the Shadow Chronicles? Man....it's gonna be bittersweet watching.
Michael Bradley is an amazing singer and since Lancer had a male voice throughout Robotech it was fitting, but the original female singer for Yellow in Mospeada was amazing as well. Instrumental wise the Robotech soundtrack blows away the originals, that one song before every major battle really gets the viewer pumped up. Just my opinion. Excellent work and insightful (and humorous) commentary!
I had been a Starblazers fan, so I simply didn't really pay much attention when Robotech first came out. The first episode I saw was the Southern Cross opening recapping the story of Max and Mirya which really caught my attention as being unique, and well told. It wasn't until years later that I finally saw the original Macross portion, but I really like Robotech, and the originals on which it was based.
Another Great Video, but the Melissa Newman who was the voice actor for Dana Sterling is not the same Melissa Newman who is the daughter of Paul Newman. The actress who voiced Dana Sterling died in the early 90's.
The fact that this series used to be three seperate franchises edited into one explains that one scene in the first episodes of Masters. While running from the military police, Dana comes across a weird looking animal obviously not native to Earth. At first glance it looks like a dog, but with a few details that makes it look more alien. At first, I'd imagine it to be a mutation caused by the Zentradi bombardment. But after watching this video, now I know why it really looks like that.
I have enjoyed your retrospective series. I would like to know what event the live Soldier Boy footage was from,. I would attend a Robotech Con/Event all these years later!
I ran home from school to catch this show! And later star blazers...My step mom brought one of the Asian veritech fighters home from a flea market. Die cast baby...Also Voltron years later...I miss those flea markets. So long Robotech, so long lion-O and Captain Avatar
When watching this saga for the first time, I wasn't that well versed in English. While I did understand some of it, I glanced over a lot of dialogue regarding the android pilots. When I saw the episode where the Bioroids abduct humans and Dana struggling to avoid killing the enemy pilots, followed by the Masters studying the captives, I quickly deduced that the Robotech Masters abducted humans to be brainwashed and used as Bioroid pilots.
It's great to see some History/Appreciation for Robotech; so, whether you want to hear it or not from me, I'm going to give my history. There was a comment from some guy in part 1 of this history "I rushed home everyday to watch this." That was me in Washington D.C. time. I was a military brat. I don't think I made a connection, and as I'm thinking about it now, I don't think that my interest in Robotech around 1985 was due to me being a military brat. I could care less about being a military brat at that young age. But, I remember turning on my black and white T.V. set. A T.V. set with the two antenna coming out. My T.V. set could see black and white noise when it wasn't tuned into a particular channel. If you watch say Timothy Ferris's "Creation of the Universe", he points out that with these t.v's, if you turn down the reception or something(I'm forgetting a detail here), you still end up seeing noise; these are Cosmic Background Radiation noise. I think at first, I'd rush home and watch Robotech and then do my homework. Later on, I'd rush in a bunch of homework answers, and then do my homework. Anyways, the way I remembered it, I would always miss like the last two episodes of the Invid war, and would have to rewatch the whole thing. I forget when I finally got around to watching the last two or so episodes of the Invid war. - It really has been a long time. I feel like there has to be more stories to tell ; but that rushing home from school just to watch Robotech was a main storyline for me. I guess I'm just going to have to talk about this History of Robotech youtube.
It started out talking about the creators. And, as it reviews the Robotech story, it points out the comparison between the final Robotech and the precursor story. But, I feel like there must not be enough exploration of the creators inspiration. Robotech has an amazing understanding of military life; there must be something there between the original creators and those who put Robotech in the Americanized form. Also, there has to be some exploration into the Robotech music. I was stuck and hoped for more about the backlash from both fans and probably parents about Robotech and how it's a redo of some original material. This sounds like an amazing social phenomenon. I remember in Madden video game football, the fans pressured the makers to get rid of the play editor. The fans didn't want to play other madden gamers who are more creative in making up plays of their own! And here, you have fans, perhaps fans of the original Macross who maybe tried to argue the new polished Robotech wasn't as good, and maybe some Robotech fans who went back to watch the precursor shows and maybe felt they found some secret original material. The polished Robotech series was my introduction. And, based on what I've seen of the precursor material, the Americanized version is the better version. The original Macross material sounds to me like a disorganized effort because it's more or a rough draft. I'd like to get back to the military aspects of Robotech.
I suppose I probably would have to re-watch the entire Robotech saga, all three wars to talk about the military life appreciation that is in Robotech. It's not just the military appreciation, it's the fight between science and military. This was one of the main things that made the original Star Trek so great as well. The original Star Trek also explored religion. I don't think Robotech contrasts science and religion. It makes a religion in terms of its "an alien crashlands on earth, and unites all of mankind." Robotech Masters explores mindcontrol society. The Invid War explores natural selection, but that's once more about communist society versus a free society. In that way, Robotech explores freeing ones mind. Anyways, the instance of military that comes to my mind right off the bat is Rick Hunter going to Lisa's barracks and getting turned away from some person at a help desk. I need to rewatch it to describe it better. But, the language used and the attitude sounds like someone knows what it's like to live on a military base.
I still gotta say based on hair color and shape alone, it shouuld have been Dana HUNTER, and Nova STERLING in the Military Police, and still keep 'the other daughter of max and miriya' in the spore dream. Also I think those would have made interesting character dynamics, and one of the ways Southern Cross excels (especially compared to the orginal) is the innate complexity of the character dynamics of them being the children of the characters fro the first.
Watched earlier this morning as soon as I got up. Came back because I forgot to like and comment. REALLY loving this retrospective. Can't wait for the next part. REALLY looking forward to your coverage of the HG's legal fuckery...
This is another great retrospective of one of my favorite animated series back when I was a teen! Robotech IMO is the first American translated Anime that's better than its Japanese counterpart thanks to its worldbuilding, voice acting and soundtrack!
In Robotech, the world is destroyed by the Zentraedi in the Macross saga. By the time of the Southern Cross, Rick and Lisa have used all the resources rebuilding the SDF3 and leaving Earth with very little left for Monument City. That is why the city looks so barren, little effort was put into its construction. I believe General Emmerson laments on this fact and that is one of the reason he is not keen on Rick Hunter leaving Earth without a battlefortress and undefended if the Robotech Masters ever come.
In Sentinels, it is Leonard who screams to both Excedore and Lang about the stupidity of taking the most advanced weapons with the Pioneer Expedition into Tirol while leaving the Earth with standart issue military equipment. For what is worth, after seeing him as the "bad guy" in Robotech, on Sentinels he is the only one acting with reason, probably showing the levels of delusion that Rick Hunter and the members of the Pioneer Expedition had by that point, wich matches perfectly with Ricks emergency order to wipe out Earth if the Invid destruction isn't achieved.
@@PointReflex That never set well with me, how Rick would destroy the earth to wipe out the Invid. That's a hard 180 from a moment when he climbed down from his Valkyrie to pick dandelions, reflecting on how no matter what abuse humans heaped on the earth, it always came back.
@@ladyrazorsharp That was the entire point, to leave you with a harsh feeling about Rick and more importantly it matched with the Regi's warnings to the humans about Protoculture and how it corrupted everyone who turned dependant of it as a source for social grow. For the record, we saw how the Zentraedis were "bad guys" mostly because of their pathological need for Protoculture while deep inside they could be as good (or worse) as human beings. Then you get to see how humanity, most importantly, the heroes of the first Robotech War ended up condemning themselves as the Zentraedis did in the past. It was a bad picture for Rick and the others, but a glimpse of reality on the consecuences of the use of Protoculture.
“Robotech: Historical Essays of the Robotech Period” by Peter Walker is an amazing detailed account of not simply the series we’ve come to know and love, but previously clouded back story on galactic events leading up to Macross. A good read if you’re down for more Robotech lore.
I wish that Mospeda was the second Robotech saga and Southern Cross was the third Robotech saga. I’ll eventually make wiki pages about them in the future.
One thing that worked to make the transition a little more "seamless", was that the big capital ships in New Generation looked somewhat similar to those of previous chapters. The Garfish looked like an amalgam between a Zentradi destroyer and Earth tech. And there were other, more angular, ships that were similar to those used by Earth forces in The Masters.
I think the differ in tech between the 2nd and 3rd generations was due to the Invid invasion think they destroyed most tech to keep the population from rising up and challenging their (the Invid) rule
@@timothyward8695 LOL I was just joking around, but carl massacre is cancer and his "legacy" will ever be, about that I'm dead serious, fuck that asshole
Sheesh. Yeah, I discovered Robotech kind of late in its heyday, having never spotted it on TV but instead finding it on the shelves at a rental store. What I'd found was movie-length condensations of the Macross arc, spanning six tapes. Obviously I was very enthusiastic about the show and made myself copies of it. But the rest of the syndication was nowhere to be seen so I never saw a peep of it, even though I later read the Robotech novelization and vaguely recall some of its details. So it's kind of wild to see a side of a familiar story that is so completely alien to me.
So does anyone else here remember the robotech video games? Macross saga for the game box advance? Battlecry and Invasion for Play Station 2? Because that is how I got into Robotech, that is how I know the story. Heck I didn't know there was an anime for it until an few years ago and I still find myself hoping they will either reboot the anime or the games
I remember watching this as a kid. I lived in a 3rd world country at the time so it was difficult to even watch any episodes. This series is helpful in bringing closure 😎
One reason Southern Crosses city could be explained is that the Macross universe did have the world's governments to rebuild the SDF-1. After the population of the entire world was destroyed those that survived were the only ones to rebuild that one city.
Okay... yourseries is great. So informative... but was the "E T" on Annie LaBelle's hat from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial? The timing is perfect as Mospeada would have been produced during the ET craze. Was it an Easter egg? The timing is so sus.
2:01 You complain about the lack of development in fifteen years when the Macross was reconstructed and its new technologies were fully developed in a decade, but this is one point where the lack of development makes perfect sense. You have to keep in mind that the Macross project took place with all of Earth's technological and logistic infrastructure as well as its population of billions of people completely intact. After the Zentraedi attack, all that was left of Earth's population was the population of the Macross. The world of Southern Cross has their world an alien world just settled, but that reasoning would apply to the Master's Saga Earth. The infrastructure, population, and even biosphere that would have made Monument city blossom faster just isn't there anymore - Earth looks like a hostile alien planet because by any real measure, that's _exactly_ what it is now.
The Macross chapter has the best story in Robotech but I love the Mospeada chapter and its post-apocalyptic setting and mecha designs. I have a small collection of 3 Cyclones and a pair of Alpha Fighters that I've picked up over the last 30+ years and would never give them up. If they do ever make a live-action adaptation of Robotech, I wouldn't mind if they skip the Southern Cross portion and just did a few seasons each of Macross and Mospeada. Unless of course they can improve the Southern Cross chapter. In that case, I'm on board! More Robotech :)
Having the Invid male be like Khyron is a weird evolutionary time loop foreshadowing. Part of the reason Regis bails is she feels disturbed about eventually mimicking the R Masters. Also, easter egg Zentraedi Galka theme!
5:07 i dont know why, but robotech is VERY HEAVY on adding dialogue/narration where none existed before. did they think the audience wouldnt understand what was going on if it wasnt explained (shouldnt have used a more adult show if thats the case...)? or did the networks at the time insist on no "dead-air" in the shows? american shows of the time werent like that
I'm reading the book Robotech ART 3 which goes WAY in depth on Robotech the sentinels and Robotech the Movie which will be the focus of part 3. I need to give myself sometime, so I'm going to upload a few videos before then to give myself some time. I'd say just a few months.
MercuryFalcon Well, you've done your job by whetting a lot of appetites with your treatment of the Robotech series over the first two videos. Thank you for your researched and neatly explained videos on the series. I look forward to your third installment.
@@MercuryFalcon Good things take time, right? Looking forward to it, while I don't think anime should be brought over this way anymore I do think what happened to Robotech is super interesting. If HG wasn't so ... off, they could've had a Voltron situation where both Macross & Robotech could exist. Heck being tied to Macross is probably the best thing to happen to Southern Cross & Mospeada (both of which are more liked in South America & China along with Macross)
@@MercuryFalcon i made a bit of a mistake, there's a Chinese sub for Robotech II but it's just a really well made fandub. Robotech was officially dubbed but I don't believe Sentinels or the movie were, but the Mckinney novels were recently translated with one or two missing.
For as much as it sucks that Macross will never be localized in the west because of Harmony Gold, I honestly still feel like it would be pretty interesting to see a modern adaption of Robotech in the same vein as Voltron: Legendary Defender.
Man now I see why I found it so hard to buy into the robotech series Even when the storyline develops through dialogue so many if the visuals did not make sense to me way back when I was a child watching this
This kind of came off to me as a history of cringe lmao. I'm glad to have everything explained in a concise format and I really appreciate the effort that went into these videos
Paul Newman, best known for his performance in Cars 🤣
If you're 10 years old, that is.
I hope that was a joke
Right.
@@boomka whoosh. That's the sound of the joke going right over your head buddy 🤣
@@boomkano shit.
Thank you for summarizing my favorite childhood series without destroying it. Insightful summary with great behind the scenes comments that an 11 year old would not have known (or cared) about
"....and former Robotech pilot turned gender fluid cocktail lounge singer Lance Lancer Yellow Dancer Belmont" pretty much sums up how insane the Robotech: New Generation summer of '85 was.
🎵It's the eiiightiiiies! Do a lotta coke and fight in giant robots!🎵
It's like a bizzare JEM cartoon/ David Bowie hybrid.
@@mxferro THIS. Although a Yellow Dancer/JEM concert would be interesting to see. Couldn't be any weirder than either show was!
15:27 "...Lancer holds a concert where he performs the Minmay song , 'We Will Win', effectively taking the song from somewhat passable to an 8 out of 10 banger." I died at this part 😂
Yea... reba west was not a trained singer. Not difficult to outclass her performances of minmays music.
Between her off key delivery and limited selection of songs, even as a small child I knew that they had horribly mishandled the minmay character. Everyone in the room would cringe when she started singing.
Used to call it "Robot-ech" as in, ROBOTS plus "ECH" during minmays songs.
Such a strong ending, what a way to go out for the series!
@@TheCausalParadox I attended a VA panel at AX one year where Reba West was one of the panelists. I think she was the one who threw the biggest shade at herself! She said she was told that she'd have to sing and she went "I'm not a singer but okay" I want to say she'd been told they'd dub someone else but they ran out of time/money and just kept her in, but don't quote me on that. She was hilarious and I thought it was big of her to not be bitter when she was rather infamous as Minmay.
as a child I loved the Masters saga, so much I named my daughter Dana, and gave her my own miriya figure to play
Thats sweet as fuck
Give her the Miria VF-1J with super packs 1/100 toy.
Yeah. The ATAC vertiech hovertanks were the best mecha ever. Those babies could go anywhere.
My friend named his daughter Athena, because he loved Saint Seiya!
hope your daughter becomes a veritech fighter pilot when she grows up
The one and only time I watched robotech was when I was twelve and although I enjoyed it greatly I realize now that I didn’t fully understand the story as well as I thought I did. This retrospective is giving me an even greater appreciation for it. Enough to make me wanna see not only robotech again but also the Japanese series it’s based off.
They FINALLY English dubbed the Macross saga, directly translated from Japanese. Haven't watched the whole thing yet, but the first two episodes reveal just how much the dialogue was "kiddified" for the 1985 English language version.
Seeing it as the script was meant to be, is the only way to see Macross conclude. Otherwise, its a much longer story.
It was still always very entertaining to see the re-written version. I watched the whole thing twice. It's just nice to have it both ways now. It's been digitally re-mastered too. I might see the 80s version again, after watching the new one.
I grew up with Robotech and would rush home every day after school to watch it and DBZ. I read the books, I rented the Sentinels VHS tape, rented New Generation from Hastings (RIP), and scoured the net for more info. I do love Macross, too, but Robotech got me into anime, so it is very near and dear to my heart. Thank you for making these! I can't wait for Part 3!
dude that doesn't even make sense at all
@@galvanizedcorpse
how doesn't it make sense to you?
@@jakejutras5420 excuse me?, wtf are yu
@@jakejutras5420looks like we got us a bot.
The Melissa Newman who did Dana's voice is actually a Melissa S Newman, not Paul's daughter, though she does also have an imdb profile. Apparantly it was her last role and Carl Macek said she dissappeared from the industry after.
She died in a car accident I thought...
She was married to Gregory Snegoff AKA Greg Snow who voiced Khyron and Scott. He said she died in a car accident in the early 1990s.
When I was watching the show back in the late 80s as a kid , macross and new gen was my fav , but when I got older in my teens the masters become my fav , when you read some of the comics and novels it makes much more sense and is really good
This is a literary remix at its best.
The people who put this together out of 3 different cartoons were geniuses.
And its STILL the most iconic series (except maybe Gundum) ever.
Actually Nintendo did this too for Supermario brothers.
It's clear in spite of the ire bringing up Robotech brings, the creators clearly wanted to respect a lot of what these different series had to offer.
If i'm honest I'd love to see a new Robotech get the Voltron: Legendary Defender treatment where the original and adaptiation can be more streamlined together.
There is the little issue of Macross still being an ongoing franchise over in Japan. The most recent installment came out in fact this year.
Voltron has the luck of Beast King GoLion and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV both being relatively obscure in Japan.
Doesn't help that Macross was embargoed by Harmony Gold.
Maybe it's just me, but now that I've discovered Gerry Anderson's 'Thunderbirds' (which is quite popular in Japan), the character of Scott reminds me strongly of Scott Tracy. Huh. Interesting, how two of my favorite things may just be related...
I was in the 6th grade when I discovered Robotech. A friend was recounting an episode she'd watched after school and she said "And the guy died" (referencing Roy Fokker's death). I was shocked. As an avid cartoon fan since I was a wee nipper I knew that wasn't allowed (it was the era of the "parachute syndrome," where all the guys shot down in GI Joe always bailed out). She waved her hand and said "Oh no, this is from JAPAN. They do things differently there." That was it, I had to know more. I tuned in and never looked back.The tragic arc of Roy's death is still my favorite episode and I was thrilled to meet Dan Woren, Roy's voice actor, at Anime Expo. I still have the photo of Roy that he signed!
The cool thing is that in the back of Robotech: Art 1 there's a crash course about anime and how it differs from the cartoons in the US. I've referenced that time and again while trying to convince people that yes, you can tell a violent/sexy/tragic etc story using cartoons that isn't for children! The US has finally caught up to that idea but it was a LONG time coming.
I wanted to have the motorcycle when I was a kid. It was so cool.
" it seems odd they could do THIS in 10 years but not THAT in 15"
Not at all! For The SDF-1 rebuild, you had an entire planet's infrastructure, people, and intellect. For the post-Dolza rebuild, you had the ship's crew and civilians from Macross Island, plus whoever managed to survive.
Completely different. Billions vs maybe 100k people, higher starting tech but no way to harvest new materials.
and anything they did have went into building the sdf-3
@Shinobi Raccoon Take the fight to the enemy, or atleast in the SDF-3s mission, to engage them in negotiations as they knew there is no way they survive another assault on the Earth. Little did they know that the Masters (and their planet) were in equally dire straits.
not to mention a worlds worth of experts, scientists, manufacture and soldiers determined not to get killed by orbital bombardment.
By contras the southern cross survivors were making the best with what they had starting from a devastated planet with minimal remaining infrastructure.
That they had any standing forces let alone an air force, artillery/tank regiments and an array of regular forces is fairly impressive all things considered
@@IRMentat i'd say mostly it's the manufacturing and resources that pose the biggest limitation.
you've got a ship with.. i'm gonna guess.. no mining and refining equipment, and very little construction stuff. you'll have to scrap the ship for mats until you can rebuild infrastructure.. and you're doing all this with only a few thousand people, mostly completely untrained civilians.
rebuilding as much as they did in 15 years is actually the unbelievable part, not how much they didn't rebuild.
The footage from 18:00 is not only from my country (Chile), the concert place is also my alma matter (college)!
Wait, Robotech was big in Chile? I always thought Latin America got this stuff from the original Japanese as separate series (if at all.)
Also, that's some spot on Lisa Hayes cosplay.
@@thegardner80 Yep, no kidding and not only in Chile, Robotech is still quite popular in Latin America, I would even dare to affirm that the biggest fandom is located in that zone (tough I don´t have solid figures so correct me if I am wrong), no wonder why the fan film "Valkirie project" is from Argentina and even HG promised to employ them for the failed "Robotech Academy" series. Moreover, Michael Bradley, the voice of Lancer from the third season, came to my country to perform a concent and if you still don´t believe me:
watch?v=v5_o5rc6nuc
or just put Michael Bradley Chile.
@@thegardner80 Also Robotech is not the only anime popular in Latin America: during the 80 and at least the begginning of the 90 decade lot of broadcasted anime series were localized versions from United States, for instance Gatchaman was known here as G-Force but I also remember to have watched the localizaed version by Sabanna too. Voltron also was broadcasted but it wasn´t popular as Robotech.
@@thegardner80 Latin American anime fans exaggerate (and I'm being considerate by saying that) when they claim all the anime we got was 100% uncensored, translated directly from Japanese and broadcast simultaneously with Japan. That is simply not true.
Take the usual go-to example, Saint Seiya. It came out here in 1992 (1986 in Japan), and the first 26 episodes were just the scripts from the European Spanish translation (itself translated from French) with appropriate pronouns ("ustedes" instead of "vosotros", for example). From episode 27 onwards, it's believed the scripts were translated from English transliterated from Japanese, which resulted in several translation errors and name confusions.
Paul Newman's entire legacy is now based on his work in Cars. It's the same notoriety Alec Guinness feared about Star Wars.
ok...i dont know if this is a spoiler or not, but the three mounds in robotech master are suppose to be the wreckage of the SDF1, the SDF2 and Khyrons ship
It was also the burial place of Augustus Caesar, Lepidus, and Mark Antony.
Robotech changed my life
same here bby boy same here
16:54 That guy basically broke the toy.
"As you can see, it converts easily into battle configuration". That´s some epic fail at epic levels.
I'm sure that toys are supposed to make that ear splitting snapping sound when carefully manipulated by an expert.
You know John, you should do a video on Gundam's tenuous early history in America, specifically the UC stuff, because oh boy that seemed like an interesting ride to be on. Also there's a lot of fascinating parts to it like the en masse distribution of MSIAs, a flood of games and gunpla available in English at common retailer stores but also a lot rumors and hearsay such as 911 being the reason Zeta Gundam never got to air. All I really know for sure is that Gundam flourished more in Canada in the end.
Either-way, great vid. Can't wait for part 3 because that sounds like the beginning of the drama.
Yes please..
I agree that Southern Cross was the weakest series in Robotech, but on re-watching it some years ago I found it was not as bad as I had remembered from my childhood. Also, the hover tanks are freaking awesome!
There is so much culture in this series, it is a shame no live movies have been attempted yet.
Apparently Sony have something in the works. A live action adaptation has been in development hell for years BUT recent reports of progress with regards to an agreement with the various rights holders means it might actually get off the ground this time.
@@unstoppableExodia Is this really true? Who is making it? Harmony Gold is playing ball?
My all-time favorite saga was The New Generation. As a child, I even had a crush on Scott Barnard! 😊😁😂😅
That makes two of us!!! :)
Some of the earliest versions of the Jetfire toy shipped with the delta kite symbol of the macross series on it's wings
Yup i still have mine..
Lizzy z how much you want for it?
🤤I only have the SDF-1
Thankyou so much for your two part series... This series holds as my favourite ever since I was a kid and will forever hold a special place in my heart... your video gave me a great blast of nostalgia and further enriched my affection for the franchise 👍
my dad introduced me to this show. he was one of the kids that grew up with it. i remember being so mad finding out the 3rd part was the end of it, i was looking forward to seeing scott meet up with rick hunter 😅
My step-dad used to have a few of those old Matchbox Robotech figures way way back when I first met him, surprisingly enough they managed to survive two moves but the third move they busted up pretty badly.
On that happy note, great work on the video
Lancer coming out on stage to the complete shock of the audience mixed with Cam Clarke's 'gotcha!' tone was amazing. I know people usually think of Cam from Turtles (and Akira) but the dude has such a great voice that it always shocked me going back to old anime and he pops up.
I didn't notice it as a child, but I love how you could basically track the New Generation bands journey from South America up to North America, through the Rocky Mountains and Denver, to New York City, and finally to the Reflex Point in the Great Lakes region. It's no wonder why Robotech has such a large Spanish speaking fan base.
In Masters, the three mounds that contained the flowers of life were the remains of the SDF-1, SDF-2, and Khyron's ship if I remember correctly, not where the SDF-1 originally crashed when it landed on Macross Island.
EDIT: As far as Marlene goes, her death was still pretty fresh in Scott's mind so of course it was on his mind constantly. I think by the time the series ended, it had been months after her death but sometimes it takes years to get over the death of someone close if you ever do get over it completely.
"In Masters, the three mounds that contained the flowers of life were the remains of the SDF-1, SDF-2, and Khyron's ship"
Nope. The 3 mounds are only the SDF-1's reflex furnaces since they're absolutely tiny structures (like 80m in diameter and 40m tall) in comparison to the SDF-1 itself (let alone the larger SDF-2 and Zentraedi Gun Destroyer. The series even tells us this in episode #60 Catastrophe:
THE NARRATOR: And so the alien strategy is set: a flanking operation to avoid the Earth fleet and to swoop down on a defenseless area near Monument City. An area they have determined contains the remains of the original battlefortress, and hidden within its Reflex Furnaces the Protoculture Matrix they so desperately seek.
@@BrooklynRedLeg I'd forgotten about that! UGH that hurt so much, thinking about the destruction of the SDF-1 and all the beloved characters killed in Khyron's suicide charge.
And the damn Grand Cannon in Alaska, rrrrggh I was so mad at Lisa's father for that. The whole series is full of moments of "NO WAIT DON'T" and it's too late.
I always wondered why that Veritech toy had legs that were obviously intended to transform (but locked so they couldn't), but everything else clearly not there for it.
Seems over-cautious on Matchbox's part, though, since Hasbro probably only licensed the exact toy they released and not the design itself.
At the very least, I know that Select's Converters (which were probably officially licensed from the Japanese toy manufacturer without any direct contact with the people who made any version of the show) included small figures of a Valkyrie/Veritech and the SDF-1 itself.
"...we're expected to believe this is a female singer."
Counterargument: have u ever heard Bonnie Tyler?!
In the early 80s my bus got to my stop at 245pm, and Robotech came on at 3pm. So I ran home everyday, Tell that to the netflix generation.
The sing-along at the end was awesome, where/when was that?
Damn I cant believe I still remember the song Lonely Soldier boy and up to now I still think it rocks!
Cam Clarke as Max Sterling and as Lancer is one of my all-time favorite voice actors. Flipping through TV channels once circa 1997 I saw some sort of Hanna-Barbera-ish cartoon (artwork looked like Scooby Doo but it was not Scooby) and I heard that voice. I instantly sat up and was like, "That's Max Sterling! That's freaking Max Sterling!"
I looked it up. It may be BARNYARD; he plays Freddie the ferret!!! If you’re not familiar, you may enjoy IMDB.com!!! It’s FACT FILLED AND YOU CAN LOOK UP MANY THINGS!!!(if you have “CLUES”)
This series is fantastic. Can't wait for the next episode.
The 3rd Saga of Robotech had the most depressing storyline. The guy basically lost his fiancee.
yeah but he learned to let go and move on. as a kid it helped me understand loss and greiving
@@thac0twenty377 woah! Great insight!
Im probably guessing part 3 is going to mention Harmony Golds Lawsuit case against BattleTech over the Macross designs?
I remember being so confused by Lance as a child. 😂
1:45 as much as I dislike pointing out any instances of the robotech writing making sense, this actually does.
The earth governments were capable of restoring the macross in 10 years because they had the resources of the entire planet backing them.
Post war, well, the planet is all gone. Rebuilding would be a ridiculously slow process. Think like the shanty towns in the fallout franchise.
Come to think of it... I just rationalized the canon of why the southern cross defense force had such crappy mecha.... Hunter took all the good stuff with him on the SDF-3 and the people left back home get the subpar gear.
Harmony gold, put me to work!
Yellow Magic Orchestra was on Soul Train in 1983. They where a major crossover act.
Great series so far although I was a little disappointed with the New Generation section didn't have so many changes but really enjoyed you breaking down Southern Cross and giving it some love. I had a bunch of the Masters Comico books and I remain convinced that's the best way to enjoy the story as it really lets the material breathe as opposed to the incredibly awkwardly paced dialogue that we get in the TV version. On paper, at least, It was a pretty satisfying and morally ambiguous military drama.
Part 3 I guess you're going to cover Sentinels and the Shadow Chronicles? Man....it's gonna be bittersweet watching.
Michael Bradley is an amazing singer and since Lancer had a male voice throughout Robotech it was fitting, but the original female singer for Yellow in Mospeada was amazing as well. Instrumental wise the Robotech soundtrack blows away the originals, that one song before every major battle really gets the viewer pumped up. Just my opinion.
Excellent work and insightful (and humorous) commentary!
I had been a Starblazers fan, so I simply didn't really pay much attention when Robotech first came out. The first episode I saw was the Southern Cross opening recapping the story of Max and Mirya which really caught my attention as being unique, and well told. It wasn't until years later that I finally saw the original Macross portion, but I really like Robotech, and the originals on which it was based.
I couldn’t get into robotech without rick hunter.
Another Great Video, but the Melissa Newman who was the voice actor for Dana Sterling is not the same Melissa Newman who is the daughter of Paul Newman. The actress who voiced Dana Sterling died in the early 90's.
Dang. I'm going to make a combined version of all the parts once they're all done. I'll make sure to fix that.
The fact that this series used to be three seperate franchises edited into one explains that one scene in the first episodes of Masters. While running from the military police, Dana comes across a weird looking animal obviously not native to Earth. At first glance it looks like a dog, but with a few details that makes it look more alien. At first, I'd imagine it to be a mutation caused by the Zentradi bombardment. But after watching this video, now I know why it really looks like that.
Polly the pollinator!
I considered this as a very excellently done series
Can't wait for the movie!!
I have enjoyed your retrospective series. I would like to know what event the live Soldier Boy footage was from,. I would attend a Robotech Con/Event all these years later!
Mars P it was a Michael Bradley concert I believe in South America.
I ran home from school to catch this show! And later star blazers...My step mom brought one of the Asian veritech fighters home from a flea market. Die cast baby...Also Voltron years later...I miss those flea markets. So long Robotech, so long lion-O and Captain Avatar
Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! I was there in that concert, in ´´el planetario´´ chile, santiago was a good city :/
I was on that mini concert that you showed at the end. That was in Chile.
When watching this saga for the first time, I wasn't that well versed in English. While I did understand some of it, I glanced over a lot of dialogue regarding the android pilots. When I saw the episode where the Bioroids abduct humans and Dana struggling to avoid killing the enemy pilots, followed by the Masters studying the captives, I quickly deduced that the Robotech Masters abducted humans to be brainwashed and used as Bioroid pilots.
It's great to see some History/Appreciation for Robotech; so, whether you want to hear it or not from me, I'm going to give my history.
There was a comment from some guy in part 1 of this history "I rushed home everyday to watch this." That was me in Washington D.C. time. I was a military brat. I don't think I made a connection, and as I'm thinking about it now, I don't think that my interest in Robotech around 1985 was due to me being a military brat. I could care less about being a military brat at that young age. But, I remember turning on my black and white T.V. set. A T.V. set with the two antenna coming out. My T.V. set could see black and white noise when it wasn't tuned into a particular channel. If you watch say Timothy Ferris's "Creation of the Universe", he points out that with these t.v's, if you turn down the reception or something(I'm forgetting a detail here), you still end up seeing noise; these are Cosmic Background Radiation noise.
I think at first, I'd rush home and watch Robotech and then do my homework. Later on, I'd rush in a bunch of homework answers, and then do my homework.
Anyways, the way I remembered it, I would always miss like the last two episodes of the Invid war, and would have to rewatch the whole thing. I forget when I finally got around to watching the last two or so episodes of the Invid war.
- It really has been a long time. I feel like there has to be more stories to tell ; but that rushing home from school just to watch Robotech was a main storyline for me. I guess I'm just going to have to talk about this History of Robotech youtube.
It started out talking about the creators. And, as it reviews the Robotech story, it points out the comparison between the final Robotech and the precursor story. But, I feel like there must not be enough exploration of the creators inspiration. Robotech has an amazing understanding of military life; there must be something there between the original creators and those who put Robotech in the Americanized form. Also, there has to be some exploration into the Robotech music.
I was stuck and hoped for more about the backlash from both fans and probably parents about Robotech and how it's a redo of some original material. This sounds like an amazing social phenomenon. I remember in Madden video game football, the fans pressured the makers to get rid of the play editor. The fans didn't want to play other madden gamers who are more creative in making up plays of their own! And here, you have fans, perhaps fans of the original Macross who maybe tried to argue the new polished Robotech wasn't as good, and maybe some Robotech fans who went back to watch the precursor shows and maybe felt they found some secret original material.
The polished Robotech series was my introduction. And, based on what I've seen of the precursor material, the Americanized version is the better version. The original Macross material sounds to me like a disorganized effort because it's more or a rough draft.
I'd like to get back to the military aspects of Robotech.
I suppose I probably would have to re-watch the entire Robotech saga, all three wars to talk about the military life appreciation that is in Robotech. It's not just the military appreciation, it's the fight between science and military. This was one of the main things that made the original Star Trek so great as well. The original Star Trek also explored religion. I don't think Robotech contrasts science and religion. It makes a religion in terms of its "an alien crashlands on earth, and unites all of mankind."
Robotech Masters explores mindcontrol society. The Invid War explores natural selection, but that's once more about communist society versus a free society. In that way, Robotech explores freeing ones mind.
Anyways, the instance of military that comes to my mind right off the bat is Rick Hunter going to Lisa's barracks and getting turned away from some person at a help desk. I need to rewatch it to describe it better. But, the language used and the attitude sounds like someone knows what it's like to live on a military base.
I still gotta say based on hair color and shape alone, it shouuld have been Dana HUNTER, and Nova STERLING in the Military Police, and still keep 'the other daughter of max and miriya' in the spore dream. Also I think those would have made interesting character dynamics, and one of the ways Southern Cross excels (especially compared to the orginal) is the innate complexity of the character dynamics of them being the children of the characters fro the first.
Watched earlier this morning as soon as I got up. Came back because I forgot to like and comment. REALLY loving this retrospective. Can't wait for the next part. REALLY looking forward to your coverage of the HG's legal fuckery...
This is another great retrospective of one of my favorite animated series back when I was a teen!
Robotech IMO is the first American translated Anime that's better than its Japanese counterpart thanks to its worldbuilding, voice acting and soundtrack!
Not really, but to a 10 year old kid sure, but the dramatic voiceovers of the Macross series was pretty cool.
In Robotech, the world is destroyed by the Zentraedi in the Macross saga. By the time of the Southern Cross, Rick and Lisa have used all the resources rebuilding the SDF3 and leaving Earth with very little left for Monument City. That is why the city looks so barren, little effort was put into its construction. I believe General Emmerson laments on this fact and that is one of the reason he is not keen on Rick Hunter leaving Earth without a battlefortress and undefended if the Robotech Masters ever come.
In Sentinels, it is Leonard who screams to both Excedore and Lang about the stupidity of taking the most advanced weapons with the Pioneer Expedition into Tirol while leaving the Earth with standart issue military equipment. For what is worth, after seeing him as the "bad guy" in Robotech, on Sentinels he is the only one acting with reason, probably showing the levels of delusion that Rick Hunter and the members of the Pioneer Expedition had by that point, wich matches perfectly with Ricks emergency order to wipe out Earth if the Invid destruction isn't achieved.
@@PointReflex That never set well with me, how Rick would destroy the earth to wipe out the Invid. That's a hard 180 from a moment when he climbed down from his Valkyrie to pick dandelions, reflecting on how no matter what abuse humans heaped on the earth, it always came back.
@@ladyrazorsharp That was the entire point, to leave you with a harsh feeling about Rick and more importantly it matched with the Regi's warnings to the humans about Protoculture and how it corrupted everyone who turned dependant of it as a source for social grow.
For the record, we saw how the Zentraedis were "bad guys" mostly because of their pathological need for Protoculture while deep inside they could be as good (or worse) as human beings. Then you get to see how humanity, most importantly, the heroes of the first Robotech War ended up condemning themselves as the Zentraedis did in the past.
It was a bad picture for Rick and the others, but a glimpse of reality on the consecuences of the use of Protoculture.
“Robotech: Historical Essays of the Robotech Period” by Peter Walker is an amazing detailed account of not simply the series we’ve come to know and love, but previously clouded back story on galactic events leading up to Macross. A good read if you’re down for more Robotech lore.
Cool video! On to part 3!!!
I have NEVER watched this show before, and only heard about it a few days ago. This video series is super interesting. All these fans!...
I wish that Mospeda was the second Robotech saga and Southern Cross was the third Robotech saga. I’ll eventually make wiki pages about them in the future.
One thing that worked to make the transition a little more "seamless", was that the big capital ships in New Generation looked somewhat similar to those of previous chapters. The Garfish looked like an amalgam between a Zentradi destroyer and Earth tech. And there were other, more angular, ships that were similar to those used by Earth forces in The Masters.
11:30 what film is this ?
For real, someone please answer
I love how the TECHNOLOGY LEVELS jumps up & jumps down between SAGAS.
I think the differ in tech between the 2nd and 3rd generations was due to the Invid invasion think they destroyed most tech to keep the population from rising up and challenging their (the Invid) rule
Yeah, it actually sells the threat of the Invids.
Is there a part 3? I cannot find it.
ruclips.net/video/ciAF8wlc8n0/видео.html
this is not like your gender studies kid, this is kinda more complicated so be fucking patient OK?
@@galvanizedcorpse Dude, chill out!
@@timothyward8695 LOL I was just joking around, but carl massacre is cancer and his "legacy" will ever be, about that I'm dead serious, fuck that asshole
Sheesh. Yeah, I discovered Robotech kind of late in its heyday, having never spotted it on TV but instead finding it on the shelves at a rental store. What I'd found was movie-length condensations of the Macross arc, spanning six tapes. Obviously I was very enthusiastic about the show and made myself copies of it. But the rest of the syndication was nowhere to be seen so I never saw a peep of it, even though I later read the Robotech novelization and vaguely recall some of its details. So it's kind of wild to see a side of a familiar story that is so completely alien to me.
13:30 Holy shit that was a great take.
I don't remember that song "You Better Use It or You Lose It" being in the foreground.
Yellow Magic Orchestra is kind of a big deal, but ok...
Is 11:30 from a movie? Or is our from a show? Anyone know what it's called?
That vf 1j with the 4 head lasers would be a cool custom
1:52 dont you remember all humans and resources were basically destroyed. Not enough man power to rebuild
So does anyone else here remember the robotech video games? Macross saga for the game box advance? Battlecry and Invasion for Play Station 2? Because that is how I got into Robotech, that is how I know the story. Heck I didn't know there was an anime for it until an few years ago and I still find myself hoping they will either reboot the anime or the games
I have Battlecry on Xbox 360.
Awesome docu. Just what i needed.
I remember watching this as a kid. I lived in a 3rd world country at the time so it was difficult to even watch any episodes. This series is helpful in bringing closure 😎
Joan Jett would have been a great Yellow. Not sure if she was active when the dubbing was done.
I have to say southern cross is my least favourite of the three sagas
Robotech did a solid job bring the Macross franchise into the West from merging all three shows into kne long epic.
Lonely Solider Boy is a masterpiece.
One reason Southern Crosses city could be explained is that the Macross universe did have the world's governments to rebuild the SDF-1. After the population of the entire world was destroyed those that survived were the only ones to rebuild that one city.
Okay... yourseries is great. So informative... but was the "E T" on Annie LaBelle's hat from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial? The timing is perfect as Mospeada would have been produced during the ET craze. Was it an Easter egg? The timing is so sus.
I wish I live long enough to see ROBOTECH: The Search for Rick Hunter or The Search of the SDF3
They have the never completed 4th series that they put together to be a “movie” called ROBOTECH: THE SENTINELS!!!
Sadly there are alot of legal issues conspiring (then and now) to make this likely never to happen.
I dont remember this show. And I watched he man,transformers and g I joe ect. What station did it air on?
2:01 You complain about the lack of development in fifteen years when the Macross was reconstructed and its new technologies were fully developed in a decade, but this is one point where the lack of development makes perfect sense. You have to keep in mind that the Macross project took place with all of Earth's technological and logistic infrastructure as well as its population of billions of people completely intact. After the Zentraedi attack, all that was left of Earth's population was the population of the Macross. The world of Southern Cross has their world an alien world just settled, but that reasoning would apply to the Master's Saga Earth. The infrastructure, population, and even biosphere that would have made Monument city blossom faster just isn't there anymore - Earth looks like a hostile alien planet because by any real measure, that's _exactly_ what it is now.
The Macross chapter has the best story in Robotech but I love the Mospeada chapter and its post-apocalyptic setting and mecha designs. I have a small collection of 3 Cyclones and a pair of Alpha Fighters that I've picked up over the last 30+ years and would never give them up.
If they do ever make a live-action adaptation of Robotech, I wouldn't mind if they skip the Southern Cross portion and just did a few seasons each of Macross and Mospeada. Unless of course they can improve the Southern Cross chapter. In that case, I'm on board! More Robotech :)
Having the Invid male be like Khyron is a weird evolutionary time loop foreshadowing. Part of the reason Regis bails is she feels disturbed about eventually mimicking the R Masters. Also, easter egg Zentraedi Galka theme!
Paul Newman is def NOT best known for Cars. Lol.
Correct, Ed. Paul Newman is best known for his delicious salad dressing.
@@robb3724 😂🤣
5:07 i dont know why, but robotech is VERY HEAVY on adding dialogue/narration where none existed before. did they think the audience wouldnt understand what was going on if it wasnt explained (shouldnt have used a more adult show if thats the case...)? or did the networks at the time insist on no "dead-air" in the shows? american shows of the time werent like that
Why does the Robotech logo have the Polish coat of arms? 0:12
6 years later .. where is Part 3?
When is part 3 coming?
I'm reading the book Robotech ART 3 which goes WAY in depth on Robotech the sentinels and Robotech the Movie which will be the focus of part 3. I need to give myself sometime, so I'm going to upload a few videos before then to give myself some time. I'd say just a few months.
MercuryFalcon Well, you've done your job by whetting a lot of appetites with your treatment of the Robotech series over the first two videos.
Thank you for your researched and neatly explained videos on the series. I look forward to your third installment.
@@MercuryFalcon Good things take time, right? Looking forward to it, while I don't think anime should be brought over this way anymore I do think what happened to Robotech is super interesting. If HG wasn't so ... off, they could've had a Voltron situation where both Macross & Robotech could exist.
Heck being tied to Macross is probably the best thing to happen to Southern Cross & Mospeada (both of which are more liked in South America & China along with Macross)
@@MercuryFalcon i made a bit of a mistake, there's a Chinese sub for Robotech II but it's just a really well made fandub. Robotech was officially dubbed but I don't believe Sentinels or the movie were, but the Mckinney novels were recently translated with one or two missing.
is that last shot in Mexico ?
the new gen is my fave part!
For as much as it sucks that Macross will never be localized in the west because of Harmony Gold, I honestly still feel like it would be pretty interesting to see a modern adaption of Robotech in the same vein as Voltron: Legendary Defender.
Man now I see why I found it so hard to buy into the robotech series Even when the storyline develops through dialogue so many if the visuals did not make sense to me way back when I was a child watching this
This kind of came off to me as a history of cringe lmao. I'm glad to have everything explained in a concise format and I really appreciate the effort that went into these videos
I love this video!!!!!!!